Rochester Hills Man arraigned on Charges after shooting at lost 14 yr old Boy

PONTIAC, MI – A man who shot at a 14-year-old boy, after the teenager knocked on his door for directions after he got lost in the homeowners subdivision going to Rochcester High School, was arraigned on several charges in court on Friday April 13th, 2018.

Jeffrey Zeigler, 53-years-old, is charged with assault with intent to murder and felony firearms violations.

It is alleged that on Thursday April 12th, 2018, at approximately 8:20AM, Oakland County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the 2200 block of S. Christian Hills Dr. on the report of a subject who was trying to break into the house. The caller, Zeigler’s wife, reported that a black male was trying to break into her house and her husband chased after him into the yard.

That teenage boy, 14-year-old Brennan Walker, ran for his life after he saw through a window that Jeffrey Zeigler had a shotgun in his hands.

Jeffrey Zeigler chased after Walker with a 12 gauge shotgun and fired a round towards the him. Fortunately Brennan Walker was not hit by the gunfire. No injuries were reported during the incident.

The entire incident was captured on a Ring doorbell system where it was recorded. Detectives used that video to file the against the defendant.

According the the sheriff’s department, Brennan Walker was located down the street by Oakland County Sheriff’s Deputies from where the incident took place. He stated that he missed his bus to Rochester High School and was walking to school when he got lost in the Christian Hills subdivision. He knocked on the door of the Zeigler home to ask for directions.

On Friday April 13th, 2018, the case was presented to the Oakland County Prosecutors’ Office. The Prosecutor’s Office issued a two count warrant for Jeffery Craig Zeigler a 53 year old Rochester Hills resident.

Count 1: Assault with Intent to Murder – punishable by life or any number of years.

Court 2: Possession of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony – punishable by 2 years consecutively to any preceding terms of imprisonment.

Zeigler, age 53, was video arraigned in front of Judge Julie Nicholson of the 52/3 District Court in Rochester Hills this afternoon. He was given a $50,000 Cash/Surety bond. In addition to bond the Judge ordered a GPS tether upon release, alcohol testing and no contact with victim (stay at least ten miles from the victim).

He was scheduled for a pretrial conference on 4/24/18 in front of Judge Nicholson and preliminary exam on 5/1/2018.

“If someone is running from your house and chase them outside and shoot at them, you’re going to have criminal charges coming from us,” says Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.

Zeigler appears to have a history with weapons and violence. In 2006 he was charged with felonious assault with a dangerous weapon, aiming without malice and felony firearms. He was found guilty of two counts of aiming without malice and felony firearms violations and sentenced to one year of probation.

Brennan Walker’s mother and many in communities throughout the metro area are calling this a Hate Crime and should be prosecuted as such.

When Brennan went to the Ziegler home to ask for directions, Jeffrey Ziegler’s wife went to the door to find the teenager standing there. She thought he was up to no good. The woman asked Walker ‘Why are you trying to break into my house?’ That is when she reportedly started screaming and crying. Jeffrey Zielger grabbed his 12 gauge shotgun from the second floor of the home where he had been in bed when the incident began.

Since the Zeigler’s have a door bell from Ring that records video, many are begging the question of why she did not use that instead to answer who was standing on her doorstep?